It's over, man. Let her go.

The Great Race

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Location:

Bliss,ID,USA

Member Since:

Jan 04, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Recover From Injury

Running Accomplishments:

In late 2008 I decided I needed to get in better shape and started running again.  I ran my first formal road race ever, a half marathon, in late 2009.

(unofficial) Track 1 Mile - 7:32 (4/24/2010)  6:56 (9/27/2010)

5k - 27:31 - Riverview Run on 06/11/2010
22:39 - Gatorade Steelers 5k on 09/04/2010

10k - 50:43 - Riverside Run on 04/10/2010

Half - 2:02:58 - Just a Short Run on 03/27/2010
1:51:47 - IKEA Montour Trail Half on 09/11/2010

Short-Term Running Goals:

2011 Races:

Sept 25 - The Great Race 10k (59:15)
Nov 5 - Dirt Monster 5mi (52:59)

2012 Races:

June 8 - Riverside 5k  (27:49)
Sept 2 - Gatorade Steelers 5k (route) with Steve!  (27:39)
Sept 30 - The Great Race 10k (route)  (53:48)
Nov 3 - The Dirt Monster 5mi (52:55)

2013 Races:

May - Pittsburgh Marathon (started, but DNF about the half way point)
June - Riverview 5k  - Bummed I missed signing up for this one. It's one of my favorites!
Sept - Gatorade/Steelers 5k. (Signed up!)
Sept - IKEA Montour Trail Half  (prob not, but leaving it on here)
Sept - The Great Race 10k (My Running 101 goal race)
Nov - Dirt Monster 5mi (Gotta do it again no matter what!)

Long-Term Running Goals:

Finish recovering from my injuries and build mileage.  That is all.

Personal:

My name is Wes, I'm married with two wonderful children. The nickname BaldNSpicy came from the fact that I have been balding for a (long) while now and spicy for my love of very spicy foods (Thai and extremely hot wings are my favorites).  If eating doesn't bring me near tears and leave me sweating, it's not worth eating.  :-)

Oh, and I'm also known for my doorags.

Favorite Quotes:

"Running without hills is like motorcycling without corners." - rAtTLeTrAp

"Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit.  You are what you do repeatedly." - Shaquille O'Neal

"A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else."  - John Burroughs

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
NB 758s #2 Lifetime Miles: 596.90
Brooks Cascadia 7 Lifetime Miles: 165.17
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
46.040.0046.04
NB 758s #2 Miles: 27.38NB 758s #1 Miles: 18.66
Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.950.003.95

Just an easy few miles with my buddy Jake.

NB 758s #2 Miles: 3.95
Weight: 0.00
Comments(8)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
1.500.001.50

Well, just missed my double digits last week.  I could probably count some warm up in those miles and easily get my 10+/wk but I won't fudge it.  More motivation to do better this week.

Went to the track tonight with my brother in law, Brandon.  He's in from CA for a few days and so we took my son to the track so he could practice on a skateboard he just got.  It wasn't really running as much as jogging and talking with the occasional pushing Zayne or giving him some help/pointers.

This week is going to be one heck of a stressful week so I hope to get some miles in.

NB 758s #2 Miles: 1.50
Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.270.003.27

Happy Birthday to my nephew, Steve, who is 4 today.

I couldn't manage a full 4mi to celebrate his birthday.  Fortunately, he isn't old enough to hold it against me yet.  :-)

NB 758s #2 Miles: 3.27
Weight: 0.00
Comments(5)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.620.004.62

Boy it was tough getting up this morning to go run.  It's not that I didn't want to, I really did.  I just couldn't get going.  This week has been a tough one on all fronts.  BUT, I didn't run last night as I had planned, so I knew I had to go.  I was initially planning to see how I did on a 10k practice run today just to prove to myself I could do it.  I ran along the Ohio River, so it was flat and weather was just about perfect. Felt good for a couple of miles, but then the fatigue set in.  I jogged/walked the rest of the miles.  Still finished with a decent 9:24 pace.  I think my goal for the 10k coming up will be sub-58:00.

Huge congrats to my buddy, Greg, who won the Montour Trail Half today with a PR of 1:12:46!!  I really wish I had been up to running this one again.  It's a great course and the weather was excellent.  Next year, for sure!

NB 758s #1 Miles: 4.62
Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.840.002.84

Hell

NB 758s #1 Miles: 2.84
Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.110.003.11

5k at the track, 20 sec rest/water break at 1.37mi.  Goal was to keep the HR around 160 and did a pretty good job of it.  26:05 (8:24 pace).  Finished the last .36 at 7:35 pace so that felt pretty good.  Not quite able to keep that up for another 5k though.

Had my health screening at work so I can get my premium discount for 2012.  I forgot to fast and ate some breakfast, but all my numbers came back "excellent" so I guess I'll live another day.  I wonder if they use the results to figure out who to fire before they cost a lot in doctor visits or something.

NB 758s #1 Miles: 3.11
Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.400.006.40

If I were a betting man and if Vegas had any interest in my running life, I'd have lost the farm today.  After a strong start to the week, I wasn't sure I'd get my runs in and hit double digits this week.  Then there's the 10k in a couple of weeks and not feeling confident I could finish it at this point.  So with a cold rainy morning, I took my running stuff to work with the plan of running the Boulder 10k program on the TM.  I could monitor my pace easily and if I wimped out and quit, I didn't have a long cold walk back to the gym.

I walked a few times, but only for about 20-30 sec each time.  Pushed it some on the flats, but tried to keep it at or above the 60:00 goal pace (6.2mph or 9:40) the rest of the time.  Even on the big 6% hill at the 9.75k mark.  That was killer.

Anyways, finished in 59:30 - second fastest I've run that program by a couple of seconds.  LOL  Burned 880 calories and had a net climb of 240ft or something like that.  I hadn't fueled well at all - ate probably 200 calories all day, so I didn't feel well afterwards.  I'm making up for that now.  A little sore, I'm tired, but satisfied I can finish the 10k coming up.

If I can do the TM program in 59:30, I'm hopeful I can hit the 58:00 goal with my short shorts on!

NB 758s #2 Miles: 6.40
Weight: 0.00
Comments(6)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.170.003.17

NB 758s #1 Miles: 3.17
Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.900.002.90

Haven't been feeling well for a few days with some sinus issues but today the body is just totally fatigued and I really didn't feel like running.  I knew I needed to with the race on Sunday, but I knew it wouldn't be a very long run or very fast.  It was a nice day so I was glad to get out.

NB 758s #2 Miles: 2.90
Weight: 0.00
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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.000.000.00

Finally went to the doctor.  Sinus infection.  Sigh

Weight: 0.00
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Race: The Great Race (6.2 Miles) 00:59:15, Place overall: 4186, Place in age division: 298
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.310.006.31

Missed my goal (58:00) by a little bit, but it started me racing again.  More to come...I need a nap.

Well rested and fed, I've had time to reflect on this race. Overall, I'm satisfied. I gave myself plenty of reasons to 'fail' in this race: it's an injury recovery race, training has been inconsistent with low mileage, I've got a sinus infection, I'll run the first 5k then just finish the rest, etc. There were points during the race I think I used each of these.

This race had almost 9500 registered for the 10k. Only 7865 completed it. It is definitely the biggest race I've done so far. I started about middle of the pack and didn't worry at all about trying to get around people. I was very relaxed through about 2.75mi then the legs started getting tired. I think I hit the halfway point at 26:00 or so. From there, I didn't worry about walking once in a while. I can't say I gave it 100%, more like 85% maybe.

There was a sea of runners through the whole race. Had I been shooting for a fast time, I would have been incredibly frustrated with the pace and not being able to get around people for much of the race. The race was very well done and I would run it again. The Highmark runners did great and it was fun to see so many employees there.

I was successful in not overdoing it, trying to go too fast, and didn't reinjure, so now it's time to get back to some serious, consistent training.

Update:
I think this is definitely a PR course based on the elevation map and good weather.  I'm assuming since this has a negative elevation that this is considered an "aided" course?


NB 758s #2 Miles: 6.31
Weight: 0.00
Comments(10)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.410.000.41

Another year, but can't say I'm any wiser.  After about 25, I think I've actually gotten less wise.  I knew everything there was to know back then and after I turned 40, I think the decline is accelerating.

I had hoped to do my 41 mi run today but the running gods just weren't with me today.  I would have settled for a 4.1 mi run but I further settled for a .41mi (or so) jog at North Park while we were taking family photos up there.  A friend of the family is a great photographer and since she's a college student she appreciated the money to come photograph our family.  She did great!  After photos, we went to Chipotle for my birthday dinner since it was my choice.  Love those burritos with tons of Tabasco on them!

Don't tell my wife I posted this pic.  She wasn't going to put any up on Facebook or anywhere until we had decided on whether to use one for our Christmas card pic.  So, if you get a Christmas card from me and she happens to have used this one, act like you never saw it before.  ;-)  For the pictures, my son agreed to spiking his mohawk turned fauxhawk.  He refuses to cut it off but won't let us spike it either.


NB 758s #1 Miles: 0.41
Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.050.003.05

I got down to the gym today with just enough time to get in a workout before I had to haul booty home to get to the Cub Scout Pack Meeting tonight.  Fortunately, I didn't have to do anything for it except show up in my scout uniform and help with the activities.  I only have one Bear scout this year and he's new so no awards yet, but he'll get some done soon!  Of course, I couldn't find my scout shirt...found it the next day in my closet where it was supposed to be.  I think there are gnomes that do things to make me feel crazy but I haven't proven that yet.

I hit the treadmill since I had to be close to my work email on my phone.  I'm getting really good at responding to emails while running on the treadmill!  I don't even have to stop or slow down! After typing that, that's really sad actually...

Anyways, warmed up walking for .25 mi @ 3% then ran a mile at what's my current 10k pace (9:30) @ 3%, increasing to 5% by the end.  Then started the Intervals program for 15 mins @ 2%.  I set the "rest" to 6.2mph (9:40) and the speed to 7.5mph (8:00).  Each period was a min, then the second to last speed period, I increased to 8.0mph (7:30), and the last I started at 8.3mph (7:13), reducing to 1% and increased every 15 sec to 8.7mph (6:53).  This was a pretty good workout, especially at the end, but it felt good to get some speed in there too.

Did my usual (old guy) stretching so I wouldn't be too sore tomorrow.

NB 758s #2 Miles: 3.05
Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.510.004.51

I'm not sure what changed, but tonight's run was what I've been waiting for! The rain and gusting wind started just 30 minutes before I decided to head out. It was cold and obviously wet, but the best run yet. It felt pretty easy, averaged about 9:10 on the way out but overall pace was 9:01 so I sped up on the way back. Although I feel like I took it really easy and I'm not all that tired and not sore at all, for some reason my (recovered) foot is rather sore tonight. I'll have to ice it well tonight and hopefully it will feel ok tomorrow. I was planning on an easy 3 tomorrow but I'll wait and see.

NB 758s #1 Miles: 4.51
Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
46.040.0046.04
NB 758s #2 Miles: 27.38NB 758s #1 Miles: 18.66
Weight: 0.00
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